Teren was staring at the two briefcases as they sat next
to the door. They hadn't moved since she'd arrived, and she was determined that
they weren't going to. Instead, she would wait until Alex came in, and then
she would pick them up and carry them right back downstairs and out the door.

At the first tap on the door, she was up and across the
room, pulling the door open in anticipation, only to find Ron Graves before
her.

"Yes. I had it brought here from the airport garage.
And your luggage has arrived, too. I'll have someone bring it up to you."

Thinking quickly, Teren shot a hand out. "No, Ron, don't
bother. Leave the bags where they are for now. I'll get them later." She glanced
back at the briefcases. "Has Alex finished, yet?"

"Just about. She should be up soon."

"Good," Teren nodded. "I'll follow you down, if you don't
mind."

Graves shrugged. "Sure."

He led Teren though the corridor, then turned and went
down a long flight of stairs. As they reached the bottom, Teren could see Alex
leaning against a wall in the living room, with Ken beside her. Cliff was there
as well, and he was shaking hands with a gray haired man that she recognized
as Andrew Collins. As she watched, Collins gave a final wave to Alex, and left.

Graves cleared his throat as he and Teren went into the
living room. Alex looked up and lowered her eyes quickly. Ken saw Teren and
grinned.

"Hey, Teren. How are you?" He tilted his head a little,
noting the bandage on her temple. "Ooh, looks like you got roughed up a bit."

"It's no big deal, Ken. Nice to see you. How's the leg?"

"Good. Still hurts, and I'm supposed to be on the crutches,
but, " he shrugged. "I hate those damn things."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Another glance at Alex made
Teren's stomach flip. Something was wrong.

Cliff stepped forward, and shook Teren's hand. "Nice
to see you again, Mylos. Wanted to thank you for helping Alex out. We all really
appreciate it."

"It's no problem, Cliff."

"Glad the two of you are back. It'll be nice to have
Alex back on the team."

Alex shook her head at that and pulled herself away from
the wall. "That's just it, Cliff. I won't be back."

"What the hell are you saying, Reis?" Cliff asked.

"I mean, I can't come back. Director Collins took me
off rogue status. However, he also took my badge. I'm no longer a member of
the FBI."

There was a shocked silence that filled the room. Then
Ken broke it.

"Fuck, Alex, what does that mean? He fired you?" His
voice was incredulous.

"No, Ken. But I'm on indefinite suspension, until this
entire case is cleared to his satisfaction. When it is, he'll reconsider."

Again, the moment stretched, until Cliff dropped into
a chair with a groan. "Holy fucking shit."

Alex nodded. "I agree."

Teren folded her arms. "Fine. Alex, you're not going
to be arrested again, are you?"

"No."

"Good. I figure you'll feel better in your home than
here. Ron, here, has graciously had my car brought over from the airport, and
our bags have arrived. How about I get our briefcases, and we can get the hell
out of this fucking place? Sound good?"

After a thorough search, Alex's apartment was pronounced
clean, and she dropped onto the sofa, glad to be home.

Teren stood near the door, looking uncomfortable. "Should
I go --"

"Absolutely not. Get your ass over here and sit."

The darker woman raised an eyebrow but sat down on the
couch.

"You need to see this." Alex handed her a folded wallet.
Teren opened it to find a CIA ID badge, in Alex's name.

"What the hell?"

"I haven't been suspended. I've been placed on loan to
the CIA, as your temporary partner, until we figure this out."

Her partner stared at her. "Why? Who did this?"

"Director Collins and Agent Graves, with permission of
several other people whose names I wasn't told. At first, they were just going
to pair me with you, since the two of us had already proved the international
connections, making it CIA territory as well. But, I told Collins about your
theory of someone in the FBI working with White and Treville, and he agreed
with it. They decided that the best way to cut that person off from us
and any reports on our progress is to make them think that I was no longer with
the FBI, or on this case."

"So, they pretended to put you on suspension, but . .
."

"But, they actually give me temporary status in the CIA
so that we can keep working." She gave Teren a half smile. "I wanted to tell
you right away, but we all agreed that it would be better if the two of us got
out of there. I'm exhausted, so, I didn't have a problem with faking my reaction
-- depressed is easy. But, I thought we should keep your reaction as real as
possible. So, I decided to wait until we got back here."

"Why didn't you tell me in the car?"

"Well, I thought maybe Graves had bugged it, and I didn't
want to tell you knowing I might be recorded."

Teren leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "Now, we
find White, Treville, and all the other fuckers involved in this thing." She
turned her head to look at Alex. "It's not going to be easy, though."

"Well, if he did kill Radcliffe, he's probably somewhere
in the city. Ken said they had an APB out on him, and the airports were looking
for him even more than they were looking for me. As a matter of fact, Tom and
Rudy are tracking him. Maybe we should let them find him, and start with something
else."

"Like what?"

"Like the post office box for CJ. We could check that
out, and see where the records lead us."

"Good point. We could check it out tonight -- less chance
of people being around."

Alex frowned. "Why not now?" She stifled a short yawn.

Teren pointed at her. "That's why. You said yourself,
you're exhausted. I'm tired too." Alex folded her arms and looked at Teren.
"Okay, Alex, yes, I also have a headache." They grinned at each other. "It might
be better if we just slept for a while. Get over the jetlag as much as possible.
When we wake up, we'll start looking for CJ. Okay?"

The blonde head nodded, even while Alex's hand covered
her mouth in another yawn. Then she stood, and stretched.

Teren stayed on the couch, her hands on her knees and
her head down. Alex noticed a strange look on her friend's face, and stopped.

"Ter? What's wrong?"

Teren shook her head. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Bullshit. What's the matter?" Alex was startled to see
Teren's face begin to turn red. "Teren?"

Her tall partner fidgeted for a moment, then frowned,
her gaze on her feet. "Alex, could I -- um -- stay? With you?" She hesitated.
"In your room, I mean?"

"Well, you didn't think I was going to make you sleep
on the couch, did you?"

Teren glanced up to find Alex smiling at her.

The blonde woman extended a hand towards her friend.
"Come on. I'll chase your bad dreams away if you do the same for me."

Teren smiled at that. "Deal." She took the offered hand,
letting Alex pull her from the couch and into the bedroom.

The box registered to CJ was located in a branch post
office just barely inside the District of Columbia, near the Maryland border.
Box owners could still retrieve their mail after working hours, as long as they
had a key. However, since it was nearly eleven o'clock, there weren't many people
around.

Teren was in the passenger seat of her car, having once
again lost the keys to Alex's determination. The blue gaze went back and forth
between Alex and the door of the building. Alex just stared at the post office.

"Well?"

"Well, what, Teren?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Did you bring us all the
way out here, just to sit and watch the door?"

"No, of course not."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Alex finally turned her gaze to her partner. "Do you
have a key to the lobby?"

"No, but --"

"Well, I don't either. Kind of tough to get in there
without one, huh?"

"Never stopped me before."

One blonde eyebrow rose. "You want to break into a United
States Post Office?"

"No, just the box area." Teren glared as Alex shook her
head. "Hey, you didn't have a problem the last time I picked a lock."

"Number one, you were picking the lock on a tomb. Number
two, there weren't a dozen cameras around. You want someone to get you on tape,
picking a lock?"

"Ah, I'm good enough that they'd think I had a key."
Teren slumped down in her seat, though, and mumbled to herself.

Alex shook her head.

"So, then why are we here if we're not going in?"

"We are going in -- we're just waiting for someone else
to go in, and then as they're leaving, we'll slip in. Got it?"

"Uh-huh. And then what? Bust into the box? There are
cameras inside too, you know."

"Yeah, but in there they won't be able to tell that you
don't have a key. They'd be able to see the pick at the door."

Teren was silent, but Alex could tell she was still frustrated.

"Alex, we could be here all night. For all we know the
next person in might be an employee at six in the morning or something. Why
don't we just --"

She stopped at Alex's raised hand. "There's someone pulling
up. Looks like a single person. Get ready to move, okay?"

"Finally," Teren grumbled.

They waited until the car was parked, and watched as
a young man in a heavy black jacket got out and walked towards the door.

"What?" Teren leaned forward and looked where Alex was
gazing. The young man was being accosted in the middle of the parking lot by
another, much taller individual. "Who the hell is that?"

Her partner looked grim. "That's Derek White."

Slowly, Alex opened her door. Teren did the same, and
slipped around to stand behind Alex's car.

"They don't know who we are, Alex," she whispered. "Let's
walk over as if we're just going to the post office, okay?"

The blonde head nodded, and they started to cross the
street.

Derek and the young man were beginning to shout at each
other, and Teren could clearly hear them.

"--no, you've got to take me to see him! Those two sons
of bitches tried to kill me, and now everyone thinks I killed Stephen. You --"

"I'm not taking you anywhere. The word's out on you,
and you can either leave or --"

"You fucking pile of --"

Teren reached for her weapon, noticing that Alex was
doing the same. Her steps quickened, taking her ahead of her shorter companion.

Suddenly the shorter man reached inside his jacket, and
White grabbed for his arm. The two were scuffling, and metal glinted in the
light of the parking lot.

On instinct, Teren veered to the left, behind a parked
car. She took aim on the men, and watched as Alex also pulled up and focused
her weapon.

"Freeze! Police! Drop the weapon, and put your hands
over your head!"

There was a hesitation for a split second after Alex
yelled, then the struggle renewed. With a sudden punch, the short man was on
the ground, and White held the gun. He turned it towards the place
Alex was hiding. Teren sighted, and squeezed her trigger. The gun in White's
hand went flying as he clutched his bleeding fingers.

"Give it up, White."

There was a look of panic on his face, and then he turned
and ran. Alex took off after him, close on his heels.

The man on the ground groaned. He looked up to see Teren
standing over him, her gun pointed at him, and a pair of cuffs dangling from
her hand.

Alex followed White as he headed down the block, and
turned a corner. She made the turn carefully, and saw her quarry halfway down
the block. She thought about taking a shot at him, but even at this hour, DC
wasn't fully asleep, and she didn't want to chance a civilian getting in the
way. Besides, she wanted to take him in alive. So, instead, she picked
up her pace, making sure to keep White in her vision.

Her chance finally came when he made a quick left into
an alley behind a restaurant.

Perfect. Alex could see that the restaurant was still
open, which would mean there would be a light behind it. With that, she could
take White down if she had to.

As she approached the alleyway, she heard a loud voice
cursing. She paused, peering carefully around the corner.

Derek White had trapped himself. The alley was a dead
end, with a cement wall blocking his path. As Alex watched, White turned, looking
for an escape or a hiding place.

Alex stepped into the alley and aimed, cocking her weapon.
"Give it up, White. I'd really rather take you in alive."

He turned, and rushed her.

For a split second, Alex hesitated. It was enough to
let White get close enough to grab for her gun. She pulled away, but couldn't
avoid his fist as it lashed out. He connected with her arm, and the gun landed
on the sidewalk behind her, a good ten feet away.

Her instincts took over. As he threw a punch, she ducked,
landing a jab on his jaw. He swung again, but Alex danced back, then sent a
kick towards his face. It connected, and he staggered backward.

Shaking himself, White came forward again. Alex saw him
glance toward her gun, and she stepped over slightly to keep herself between
him and the weapon. He glared at her, and threw a punch. Once again, Alex ducked
under it, this time landing a solid blow to his solar plexus. He collapsed.

Teren was putting her cuffed prisoner in the backseat
when another car pulled into the parking lot. It had government plates, and
she tensed.

Two men got out of the car, and began walking towards
her. "Aren't you Teren Mylos?"

She moved forward a little and nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, you're helping out a friend of ours." One of the
men reached into his jacket pocket, and Teren reflexively went for her weapon.
"Easy. Just wanted to show you my badge." He flipped open a small wallet to
show her an FBI Identification. "Tom Jorgen. We're on the task force with Alex."

Teren nodded again, but didn't relax. "Nice to meet you.
What are you doing here?"

"Well, my partner Rudy and I," he pointed to the other
man, who was hanging back several feet, "we were assigned to bring in Derek
White. But he kept giving us the slip." He shrugged. "We got a tip that he might
show up here. Have you seen him?"

"Never met him." There was a prickling sensation on the
back of her neck. She could swear she heard chuckling from the prisoner in the
car. "What made you think he'd stop here?"

"Well, it was just a tip." Tom looked past her into the
car. "Who do we have there?"

"A suspect."

"In what?"

Teren shrugged. "Caught him fighting with someone. He
didn't want to listen, so now he's under arrest."

"But, you're CIA. You can't arrest anyone."

Another shrug. "Citizen's arrest. I hate people who don't
listen to reason." She noticed the other agent moving sideways, as if to flank
her, and she tensed again.

"Well, since we're here, and we have the authority, why
don't you let us take the prisoner off your hands. I'm sure you don't want to
spend the night filling out paperwork at the police station. We'll just take
him downtown and save you the trouble."

Teren was finding the man's smile irritating. "It's no
trouble. Should be a new experience."

Tom laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Now, Agent Mylos.
You don't really want to do that. Besides, there's no witnesses, so it'll be
your word against his. Plus," he looked around, "I don't see anyone he could
have been fighting with. Do you, Rudy?"

"Nope. No one, Tom."

"Oh, don't worry about that. He's already on his way
to the station. In fact," she made a show of checking her watch, "I should really
get moving myself. Nice of you guys to offer, but I can manage." She backed
up and waved. "Thanks again. Good luck finding this White guy."

Tom stepped forward, his hand inside his jacket. "I'm
afraid I can't allow you to do that, Agent Mylos." He drew his gun. "Now, we'll
take the prisoner. Open the door, please."

She sighed. "Okay. If that's what you really want me
to do." Teren leaned against the front door, and reached to open the back. As
she did so, she watched Tom's eyes carefully. As she suspected, his gaze was
drawn to the movement of the door, and he never saw her draw her gun.

"Oh, Tom." He looked back at her to find her .45 staring
at him. "I think you and your friend had better put down your guns, don't you?"

His answer was to raise his weapon.

Alex had Derek White cuffed, and standing. He wasn't
being cooperative, though, and had tried to kick her several times. She was
seriously considering knocking him unconscious and going to get the car.

Besides, she was worried about her partner.

"Would you stop it? I really don't want to beat the shit
out of you, but I will if you don't stop squirming."

"Why don't you just shoot me? Or are you going to torture
me first? Maybe burn me alive, like you did my wife, huh?"

"What are you talking about? Who burned your wife?"

"You're FBI, aren't you? You work for CJ!"

He squirmed again, getting himself turned around, and
tried once again to kick her. Alex felt a blast of cold anger, and blocked his
kick. Then, with all the power she could muster, she drove her knee into his
groin, letting him fall back to the ground.

White curled up on his side, mewling in pain. For a moment,
Alex was tempted to hit him again, but she shook her head and knelt beside him,
forcing his eyes to hers.

"My badge has been pulled, Mr. White. So you're facing
one very pissed off ex-FBI agent. Now, I suggest a little cooperation
is in order. Unless you like pain?" She pulled her arm back, aiming a punch
at his crotch.

He moaned and shook his head. After several breaths,
he coughed, and then looked up at her, grimacing.

"You're not with those other two?"

"What other two?"

"The two that came to Alabama. They said they were FBI,
and they were there to arrest me. But they shot my father-in-law, and set a
bomb to blow up the factory. They told me CJ wanted me dead."

"You got out?"

"They left me tied up in my office. I managed to get
out, as did most everyone else. But I ran into my secretary, and she said my
wife had gone in looking for me, and no one had seen her since the blast."

"So, it was her body."

He nodded, and Alex let out a breath.

"Do you know who CJ is?"

"No. I've met him, and I know he works for the FBI, but
I don't know anything else. I don't even know how to contact him."

"What were doing here tonight?"

"I knew he had to have someone pick up his mail from
his P.O. box. Thought I could talk the guy into taking me to see him." His face
twisted. "Looks like CJ put the word out, though, and everyone wants my blood."

"Why did you kill Radcliffe?"

White struggled to sit up. "I didn't. I swear! I was
in my car, driving up here, when I heard the news. Then when they said I was
wanted for questioning, I knew I'd been framed. So, now if I turn myself in,
no one will believe me, because I'm wanted for murder. And if I stay out here,
I'm dead. CJ or one of the others will find me eventually." His shoulder sagged.
"Might as well have let them kill me in 'bama."

Alex nodded, and made her decision. She grabbed him by
his short hair, and yanked his head back. "I'm not gonna kill you. And I'm gonna
give you the chance to prove you didn't kill the guy. But I swear, if you give
me any more trouble, or you lie to me, I'll leave you on a street corner and
take out an ad telling CJ where he can find you. Got it?"

They locked gazes for a moment. White opened his mouth
as if to speak, but the fire in Alex's eyes made him close it with a sigh. He
nodded, defeat crossing his face.

As she was hauling him to his feet, there was a series
of gun shots, and Alex paused, staring back towards the corner.

Teren.

There were sirens in the distance and closing fast when
Teren finally saw Alex round the corner. She breathed a sigh of relief and punched
the gas pedal, pulling the car to a stop beside her partner and Derek White.

Alex pulled the back door open, and pushed White inside.
He slid onto the back seat without a protest. As Alex got into the front, Teren
watched White's face, which was turning very pale.

Once the door was closed, Teren threw the car into drive,
and took off.

"What happened, Teren?"

"Seems someone didn't want us to talk to these guys.
Couple of men stopped in and tried to take my prisoner off my hands."

Alex glanced at the back. "Did they succeed?"

"In taking him? No. He's back there. But unfortunately,
they managed to put a bullet thru his brains. He won't be telling us much."

"Damn." She shook her head. "Well, Derek here is willing
to talk. So, we need to protect him. Can you think of a place we can take him?"

"How does Virginia sound?"

"Good." She turned and checked out her partner. "Are
you okay?"

"Fine. They didn't even nick me."

"Who was it?"

"Never saw them before. But the one guy said they were
on the task force with you."

"Shit." She glanced at Derek. "Did you get the name of
the agents after you in Alabama?"

"No. But I could describe them."

"No need," Teren said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I got the body of one guy stuffed in the trunk.
The other guy got away, but I know I hit him, and he'll need some attention."

"And you think they were after White? Were they really
FBI?"

"They said they'd been sent to pick him up, but he kept
slipping away from them. I saw their badges, so I'd say that they were, yeah."

Alex shook her head. "You had a shoot out with two FBI
agents? Teren--"

"They pulled first. What was I supposed to do, Alex,
let them shoot me?"

"No, of course not. Sorry. Just frustrated. Did they
tell you their names?"

"Yeah. Guy named Tom is in the trunk. Rudy got away."

"Shit." She exhaled loudly. "Tom Jorgen and Rudy Wilkins.
The first two members of the team." Alex stared out the window.

"Um, excuse me," White spoke up from the back seat, "are
you telling me you took out at least one, if not both of the guys that wanted
to kill me? And this little maggot got killed in the crossfire?"

Teren nodded once.

"Cool. Guess that means I'm in the clear, for a while
at least. Until CJ finds out."

"What? Until who finds out?"

Alex looked back over at her partner. "Derek claims that
CJ sent two agents after him, and they blew up the Kittredge factory. He only
survived cause he slipped out of the ropes."

"But, I thought Cliff Jackson sent them to arrest him."

"So did I." She turned her attention back to the darkness
outside her window.

So, you're, um, really not FBI anymore?"

"That's right, Mr. White." Alex's voice was soft, but
very cold.

"Which means, you're not FBI either, huh?"

Teren glanced up at him in the rearview mirror. "No."

"So, are you a cop?"

"No."

"Well, if you're not a cop, what are you?"

She raised an eyebrow and glared at him in the mirror.
"I'm an assassin for the CIA."

No one said anything for several miles.

They stopped at a pay phone, where Teren spent a couple
of minutes talking to Graves. She told them she was bringing in a suspect, and
that they'd need a secure place to keep him. After he woke up, Graves okayed
their plan, and told Teren he'd meet them at the safe house.

Alex stayed in the car and watched.

"So, what's the CIA doing in on this? I thought they
weren't allowed to work in the US, or something like that."

"The CIA joined the case when we discovered the international
connections. Or did you think we wouldn't find those?"

White shrugged. "Don't matter to me. The only ones who
dealt with that part were CJ and Treville."

"And Radcliffe?"

He shook his head. "Don't know much about him. He was
never at our meetings."

"Yeah. I know." She could still see Brogan falling, half
of his head missing. Alex shook her head to clear the memory.

"So, where are you two taking me?"

"To a safehouse. You'll be protected until we can figure
out who CJ is. After that, we'll turn you over to the FBI and the Justice Department.
You'll face charges of conspiracy and murder."

He gaped at her, shock on his face. "Wait a minute. You're
gonna hold me, without a warrant or anything, with no charges, and then turn
me over to the Justice Department? That's not fair."

"Fine. I know this great street corner, right by the
FBI building. We could let you out there."

He paused for a moment, then said, "You gotta get me
a deal. Or I won't tell you what I know."

"And what do you know that we don't? That Kittredge was
a money-laundering operation? That the plan to kill radical left activists was
financed by Radcliffe and a German? That you hired Mather and Wilford to do
the killing, and then killed them when they didn't seem as interested in your
goals as they were in money? What? What do you have to bargain with, Mr. White?"

They fell silent for several minutes, watching as Teren
finished her conversation and walked back to the car. Just as she was reaching
for the door handle, White leaned forward and whispered.